“She then turned left on to Greasbrough Road, leading to School Street, before turning right on to Scrooby Lane.

“A man, described as around 5ft 7ins – 5ft 9ins tall, of a stocky/plump build, between 30-50-years-old, walked past her and wished her a Merry Christmas. The man is said to have been wearing a dark coat and possibly a hat.

“Alena then turned to follow the man, walking in the same direction as him towards Barbot Hall Road.

“Our efforts to identify this man continue and we need anyone with information to come forward.

“We are continuing to follow up a number of lines of enquiry in relation to Alena’s disappearance and I’d like to stress that searches continuing at the canal behind Parkgate retail park are just one line of enquiry.

“A number of open land searches are also taking place and I’d urge anyone with information to speak to an officer while they are conducting enquiries.

“As part of our renewed appeal today, we’ve also released this new image we have of Alena.

“At the time she went missing we believe she was wearing a thin black sweatshirt with writing on it which said something similar to ‘little black sweat,’ black tracksuit bottoms with white on the side and possible sandals. She wasn’t wearing a coat.”

Anyone with information is asked to call South Yorkshire Police 101 or speak to an officer in their incident room on 01709 443540.

You can also speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 5555111.

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